Three Divisions: Crescentwood 1

by R. A. Smyth

  My chest is heaving and I can’t do anything but pant in shallow breaths as his fingers slowly, teasingly, move around to the front of my pants, getting achingly close to my hot core.

  Barrett continues to look me in the eyes, making me feel like he can see past all the walls and barriers I’ve erected over the years, right into my soul; into my very being.

  Just as his fingers stroke agonisingly gently over my clit, teasing me, I buck up into him, and his lips crash down on mine in a hungry kiss, the last binds of his restraint gone. We both consume each other as though we need one another more than oxygen.

  His fingers circle my clit a couple of times before he dips them into my hot centre, causing me to release a throaty groan. Moving back to my clit, he continues to rub it with practiced ease.

  Barrett is definitely no novice at getting a girl off with his fingers. I’m in frigging paradise right now. I can already feel an orgasm coming.

  Dipping back into my pussy, he continues to pump two stealthy fingers in and out at a fast pace as his thumb continues circling my clit, and I repeatedly buck up into his hand, riding his fingers like my life depends on it.

  Way too soon, I feel my orgasm crashing over me, causing me to cry out. Barrett swallows my moans of pleasure, his lips never leaving mine, as I scream through the orgasm and start to come back down to reality.

  Our kisses become less frantic, more passionate, and deep before tapering off, and I’m left being cradled in his embrace, feeling, for the first time since I arrived here; hell, for the first time since I was a young child, safe and protected and cared for. It doesn’t make sense considering my history with Barrett, but in this moment, I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. How have I never experienced this feeling before?

  Pulling back so I’m still in his embrace, but I can look him in the eye, I start to open my mouth, wanting to tell him about his father, and about everything else I heard tonight.

  “Barrett,” I whisper, and he continues to look at me, a softness in his eyes that I’ve never seen. Usually his eyes glint with humour and flirtiness, but none of that is present right now. His easy-going front has been dropped and I’m seeing a rare glimpse of the real Barrett.

  He waits patiently for me to go on. “I…” I start, but stop before I can say anything else.

  I can’t tell him. I can’t let him see how shaken up I am by this evening’s events. I can’t let him see that vulnerability. He’s Preston’s friend, and the two of them have gone out of their way to make my life here miserable. Even if Preston seems to be the main instigator, Barrett has been his willing companion.

  I lost myself for a moment there, got caught up in all the pheromones flying around in the air, but what we just did doesn’t change anything. It’s one thing to share myself with him sexually, but to open myself up to him emotionally, I can’t let that happen. I won’t give him the power to hurt me like that.

  Having gained some perspective, I place my hands on his chest and push him back, breaking the moment. He sees the change in my eyes, not resisting or arguing with me as I put some distance between us, slamming my mental walls into place.

  I can’t believe I just let Barrett kiss me. Shit, I just let him give me the best orgasm of my life. It’s just as well common sense returned before I gave him any more of myself. He has a way of making me feel vulnerable, making me want to drop the walls I keep up. I can’t give him those parts of me. If he broke them, it would destroy me.

  I can’t even look him in the eye, feeling too exposed after what we just shared. Instead, I wrap my arms around my waist, attempting to hold myself together, while Barrett, realising he’s no longer welcome in my room, steps back until there are several feet between us, giving me plenty of space to regain some of my mental fortitude.

  Clearing his throat, I notice him reaching down to adjust himself.

  “Uh, right, well I just wanted to check you were ok,” he mutters awkwardly, rubbing his hand up the back of his neck. “I’ll, uh, leave you alone then.”

  He makes his way over to my bedroom door, but just before he opens it he partly turns back towards me.

  “You looked stunning this evening, not that you don’t usually, but you looked particularly,” he pauses to find the right word, “fierce tonight.” He finally finishes, leaving my heart a stuttering mess as he closes the door behind himself and disappears into the night.

  Chapter 16

  BARRETT

  Parties, galas, soirée’s, whatever you want to call them, are a common occurrence in Crescentwood. I’m pretty sure every newborn baby here has their own designer suit bought and fitted for them, ready for such occasions.

  I, myself, have been to so many of these shindigs that they all just blend together. However, this one is different from all the others. This will be the first time we have been inside the Montgomery house, making it the prime time to do some snooping.

  Which is exactly what I did. I just don’t know what to make of what I found out. I had already decided to poke around in Robert's office, so when the opportunity arose to sneak away during the party, I took it.

  I was surprised when I found none other than Sophie pressed up against the office door, doing her own lurking. Before I could get close enough to hear anything that was being said in the room, or to alert Sophie to my presence, she ducked out of view and the door suddenly swung open as Charles Donaghue stepped out.

  As quickly as I could, I hid behind some ridiculous statue so he wouldn’t see me as he strode up the hall towards me, and continued on by.

  I remained in my hiding place, waiting for Sophie to walk by, but, as the minutes ticked on, nothing happened. Just as I peered around the statue to see what she was up to, the office door swung open again, and out stepped her father, looking murderous as anything when his eyes landed on Sophie, hovering just outside his door.

  Seeing Sophie being manhandled by her father was the last thing I expected. The malice I saw in his eyes, the hatred and fear I saw in hers, that can’t be faked. Besides, why would they fake it when they believed they were all alone, in a quiet part of the house?

  Does that mean we have been wrong about Sophie this whole time? Is she not in on her father’s plans? If that’s the case then what is she doing here? Everything I saw tonight is only raising more questions, causing more issues.

  Sighing heavily, I take another pull of the joint in my hand before leaning my head on the back of the sofa and staring absently at the roof of my pool house.

  I moved out here permanently when I turned fifteen. This has always been where Preston and I locked ourselves away, in an attempt to forget all the shittiness in our lives. Not that I have many problems in my life, or at least I didn’t, until a certain dark-haired minx turned up and started causing havoc.

  I’m not saying my childhood was all beer and skittles. It was just the normal level of shittiness that comes with neglectful, self-absorbed parents that view their social status and increasing wealth as being of greater importance than their only son.

  I don’t care to spend much time in the company of either of my parents, so their continued absence in my life is a blessing more than anything.

  Although I do often wonder what it must be like to have a functional family instead of a drugged-up, zoned-out alcoholic of a mother and a cheating scumbag of a father who would prefer to fuck a girl my age, than someone his own.

  No, my lot in life hasn’t been too bad, not in comparison to Preston anyway. Preston pulled a fucking shitty draw.

  He isn’t safe at home. He never has been. Not when his father is there, and since his mother died, he’s always around. So, for him, I made sure the pool house was ours and would always be open to him.

  Letting my mind wander, I think back to the events of tonight. After what I saw in the hallway, I snuck back into the ballroom and trailed Sophie and her father all night with my eyes. I noticed he constantly kept her by his side for the rest of the night.

  When Preston and
the other one-percenters mentioned something about a party elsewhere, I couldn’t bring myself to just leave Sophie there. I had to know she was ok, hence why I took the huge, fucking, completely idiotic, risk of sneaking up to her bedroom and waiting for her.

  I just wanted to check on her. I did not expect what happened to happen. Damn, was it good though, more than good, it was incredible. Hell, I didn’t even get myself off and I’ve never enjoyed a sexual experience so much. I’ve never been so drawn in by someone’s bodily reaction to what I was doing to them, and her enticing moans were driving me crazy.

  What has me thrown for a loop, though, is how much I enjoyed just holding her afterwards. Her body fit perfectly against mine and somehow I got the feeling I was giving her everything she never knew she needed in that moment. Fuck, if that didn’t make me feel like I was exactly where I was supposed to be, like this strong, ferocious woman would fall apart without me.

  I hated seeing her so vulnerable, and I was surprised at the disappointment that came over me when she erected that impenetrable wall of hers, clamming up and refusing to tell me whatever it was she was going to say.

  Usually I’m trying to get out the door ASAP after I’ve been with a girl, but with Sophie, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to be there for her, and I have no idea what to do with that feeling, especially since she was right to put a stop to things before they went any further. Heck, things shouldn’t have gone as far as they did. It’s only going to make everything more complicated going forward. Preston is still insistent that she can’t be trusted and I can’t afford to let him down now. As much as I may be drawn to Sophie, Preston is my brother and I have to stand by him.

  Before I can dwell on it much more, I hear the sliding door open and close, announcing Preston’s arrival.

  “Hey man, where did you get to? I thought you were coming to Cece’s party?” He asks, dropping himself into the seat beside me and stealing the end of my joint.

  Glowering at him, “Yeah, just wasn’t feeling it tonight.”

  He gives me a ‘what the fuck look’, knowing that I am always up to party. Switching the subject before he can enquire further, I ask, “So, did you dig up any dirt on the Montgomerys tonight?”

  Leaning back in his chair, he sighs heavily and runs his free hand that isn’t holding the joint, through his hair, messing it up, before digging into his jeans pocket and pulling out a lighter.

  “I dunno, I found this, though, in Robert's bedroom,” he informs me, passing the lighter to me so I can have a closer look at it.

  There is some sort of logo on it, made up of the face of a mountain lion, with the name, The Feral Beasts, engraved across the top of it.

  “The Feral Beasts?” I enquire. “Who are they, sounds like some sort of, I dunno, MC or something?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, but I don’t know for sure, or how they are associated with Robert. Maybe they are working for him, or working with my dad? I don’t know. Hell, they might not even have anything to do with either of them; Robert could have picked the lighter up anywhere. I’ll do some research in the morning, just to be safe, see what we can come up with,” he replies wearily, as exhausted as I am from this evening's events.

  “Man, there’s something I gotta tell you; something I saw tonight,” I blurt out before I can change my mind, knowing I have no choice but to tell him.

  At this, Preston turns to look at me, giving me his full attention. I explain to him what I saw in the hallway, the way Robert grabbed Sophie’s arm, and the threatening look in his eye.

  I decide to skip over what happened in the bedroom though. It’s not like I usually give Preston a play-by-play of my sexual conquests so this time shouldn’t be any different.

  Well, that’s what I tell myself, but even I know it’s a lie. This is totally different.

  “Bro, you don’t really know what you saw,” Preston finally says, after sitting thinking about everything I’ve just offloaded onto him in the last few minutes.

  Giving him my best ‘are you fucking serious’ look, he raises his hands in acknowledgment.

  “Yeah, yeah. It sounds suspicious as fuck,” he agrees, “but it’s not enough evidence for us to rule her out as a co-conspirator in whatever her father is up to,” he deadpans.

  “Man, you didn’t see her, she was shaken up by the interaction. I just don’t think she knows any more than we do about what’s going on.” I continue to argue, adamant that I’m right on this.

  Sighing heavily, while he rubs his eyelids with his fingertips. Preston finally looks back at me, looking even more exhausted than when he first arrived at the pool house tonight.

  “Look, for all we know, they knew you were there and staged the whole thing. I get what you’re saying,” he continues before I can interject with a protest. I know what I fucking saw and it was not staged. “And I’ll take it into consideration, but we can’t afford to get complacent. I need my dad gone, man, but that won’t happen if he has people on his side that we don’t know about. I don’t care who is in the way. This needs to end, soon.” He admits, giving me a rare glimpse at his vulnerability, which only serves to make me feel guilty, both about what happened between Sophie and I tonight, but also for pushing him to go easy on her.

  He’s right. He does need rid of his dad, and we have to be willing to do whatever is necessary, even if that involves bullying a certain girl into leaving town.

  “We should also put your plan in place this week. Even if she isn’t in on her father’s schemes, both of them need to leave, and the quicker we can do that the better.”

  “Fine,” I concede, not wanting to hurt Sophie further but knowing that Preston is right; the Montgomerys need to go. “But I’m telling you, I know what I saw tonight. Maybe she is somehow involved, but she was definitely afraid of her old man.” I insist one final time.

  Preston just nods, neither agreeing or disagreeing.

  “I’m beat man, I’m heading to bed. We can sort this out in the morning.” He states before getting up and heading into one of the three bedrooms in the pool house, once again leaving me alone with my own thoughts while I play with The Feral Beasts lighter, flicking the spark wheel and causing the gas to ignite, generating a small flame, repeating the action over and over again, while I stare unseeingly at the little pulse of light.

  If The Feral Beasts are some sort of criminal organization or gang then how do they connect to the Montgomerys? God, if they are a bunch of criminals and are on the Montgomery or Donaghue payroll then what the fuck are Preston and I going to be able to do? It’s one thing to gather blackmail material against his dad, but to take on a whole criminal organization? That’s way too much, even for us.

  I’m only giving myself a headache thinking about all of this, and I’m not going to get anywhere with it tonight. Preston had the right idea heading to bed.

  I smile to myself as I remember I’ve got a brand new hot as fuck image of a sexy seductress in my spank bank that I need to try out.

  Chapter 17

  SOPHIE

  The day after the party is a Saturday. I barely slept last night after Barrett left. Between going over what I overheard in my father’s office and replaying my moment with Barrett, my mind was a chaotic mess of questions and confusion.

  I need to get out of this house, get some fresh air and gain some perspective. A new environment, away from this place, and my father, where I can attempt to get my thoughts in order and put this whole puzzle together.

  With that in mind, I decide to head out and explore Crescentwood. While I was in the school library last week, I did some research on the surrounding area and I found a map of various walking and hiking trails in and around town. I printed the map off at the time, so now I dig it out of my bag, deciding to head out and do some sightseeing. God knows after the week I have had, some quiet time with mother nature sounds freaking perfect.

  I spend the better half of the morning wandering around in the forest, following my trusty map.
I don’t meet another soul the whole time. I can’t get over the natural beauty of the area. There were several viewing points highlighted on the map that I made a point of stopping at, and the views were breathtaking, showing me picture-perfect landscapes down into valleys and across lakes.

  Walking along the trails, I think over everything I’ve learnt since coming here…My father is the leader of The Feral Beasts, in business with Mr. Donaghue, and by the sounds of it, the other one-percenters. Mr. Donaghue is using Robert’s gang to do his dirty work, while Robert is taking advantage of the opportunity to propel The Feral Beasts into a new area of revenue

  Thinking about it, there is no way this ‘business’ Robert and Mr. Donaghue are involved in is legal. It would certainly explain Robert’s insistence that I stay out of trouble, not wanting me to cause any unwanted attention or risk them getting caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar, or in this case, wrapped up in some sort of criminal shit.

  Dagnabbit, all of this is giving me a headache.

  It takes several hours before I finally manage to calm my mind and exhaust my muscles enough that I don’t feel twitchy and restless. By now my stomach is grumping, reminding me I’ve neglected it all day, not something I’m used to anymore.

  Needing to refuel, I head back towards Crescentwood, excited to get comfy in what I have claimed as my booth at The Quirky Bird and settle in for the rest of the afternoon to read a book and devour some sweet treats.

  I’ve spent all afternoon relaxing with a hot drink, sugary baked goods and an enthralling book, and it's getting late when I start to pack up. I'm just putting my book back in my bag when I glance out through the coffee shop window, taking in the quiet main street, and notice Tyler and Aiden sitting on a bench on the opposite side of the road.